UNC had one thing going for them this year and that was their defense, headed by perhaps the top LB in college football this year and among the best DTs available. After violating the Agent Relations Rules in place by the NCAA (think along the lines of the Dez Bryant situation).

Marvin Austin has been dismissed from the team. Whether or not that can be read as banned for life or the season is unclear but in either case you would have to think this means he has to declare for the draft. He profiles as a 3-tech DT in a 43 but at 6' 3'' - 305lbs and very good speed he could play DE in our system.

Greg Little was banned along with Quinn from playing in the NCAA. He's a big, physical Possession WR type at 6'3'' - 220lbs. Walterfootball.com has his forty in the 4.5 range which is less than ideal but still good. He was projected as a mid round pick and with such a strong crop of WRs eligible this year, he could be a steal in the later rounds.

The bigger story is Robert Quinn being kicked out of the NCAA entirely. If he had chosen to declare after completing the NCAA season he was a lock to be a top 10 pick. At 6'5'' - 270lbs and a 4.6 40time, he fits the profile that BB looks for in that 34 Elephant LB spot, the only problem was there was little chance he would fall to us. Now it's a different story. Not only has his draft stock been hurt because of this nonsense but he has to declare because the NCAA won't let him come back. Instead of a top 10 pick, he's probably looking at late 1st, early 2nd territory.

Bottom line, this is a dream come true for BB brain trust if these guys were on their radar. In what could be a weak draft class due to the looming lock out, there are 2 excellent Defensive Front 7 prospects available at spots where they need help.

This could be amazing news for us, though. Quinn is exactly the type of player we need opposite Cunningham. If we draft him, and he even comes close to playing up to his potential, we're super bowl bound. :singing:

UNC had one thing going for them this year and that was their defense, headed by perhaps the top LB in college football this year and among the best DTs available. After violating the Agent Relations Rules in place by the NCAA (think along the lines of the Dez Bryant situation).

Marvin Austin has been dismissed from the team. Whether or not that can be read as banned for life or the season is unclear but in either case you would have to think this means he has to declare for the draft. He profiles as a 3-tech DT in a 43 but at 6' 3'' - 305lbs and very good speed he could play DE in our system.

Greg Little was banned along with Quinn from playing in the NCAA. He's a big, physical Possession WR type at 6'3'' - 220lbs. Walterfootball.com has his forty in the 4.5 range which is less than ideal but still good. He was projected as a mid round pick and with such a strong crop of WRs eligible this year, he could be a steal in the later rounds.

The bigger story is Robert Quinn being kicked out of the NCAA entirely. If he had chosen to declare after completing the NCAA season he was a lock to be a top 10 pick. At 6'5'' - 270lbs and a 4.6 40time, he fits the profile that BB looks for in that 34 Elephant LB spot, the only problem was there was little chance he would fall to us. Now it's a different story. Not only has his draft stock been hurt because of this nonsense but he has to declare because the NCAA won't let him come back. Instead of a top 10 pick, he's probably looking at late 1st, early 2nd territory.

Bottom line, this is a dream come true for BB brain trust if these guys were on their radar. In what could be a weak draft class due to the looming lock out, there are 2 excellent Defensive Front 7 prospects available at spots where they need help.

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Sounds good to me, because they haven't played this year i certainly can see them falling in the draft. But i just can't see Belichick drafting any of them.

Sounds good to me, because they haven't played this year i certainly can see them falling in the draft. But i just can't see Belichick drafting any of them.

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Depends on how he evaluates their situation. If this truly was an isolated case of a few delinquents taking benefits from an agent then yeah, he'll stay away from them. If the NCAA just made an example of these guys when they were few among many Southeast recruits who took gifts from agents, BB might look past that and still consider drafting them if the value is right.

Depends on how he evaluates their situation. If this truly was an isolated case of a few delinquents taking benefits from an agent then yeah, he'll stay away from them. If the NCAA just made an example of these guys when they were few among many Southeast recruits who took gifts from agents, BB might look past that and still consider drafting them if the value is right.

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I think that he would consider drafting them, from past HX i don't think he would. Hes Very picky (npi) when it comes OLB's. And i mean picky to a fault.

North Carolina announced it had dismissed Austin from the team, while the NCAA said Little and Quinn have been ruled permanently ineligible by its student-athlete reinstatement staff. All three were implicated in an agent scandal for accepting impermissible benefits, and Little and Quinn were additionally cited for lying to investigators.

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Quinn has been one of the dream targets for the draft gurus on here. Wondering if this affects his status so he drops out of the top 5 to somewhere we could pick him up?

Edit: Alternatively, do the transgressions involved show such poor judgment that perhaps BB passes entirely on him?

Edit: Alternatively, do the transgressions involved show such poor judgment that perhaps BB passes entirely on him?

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IMHO, I don't think agent-financial type transgressions would impact Belichick's decision making process. If he had committed, say for example, an assault on his girlfriend or been busted for possession, that's another story. But once you're in the NFL, you're allowed to do those sorts of things so I doubt NFL coaches think it's a big deal.

what about the impact of missing an entire season of development? or maybe the guys are fresher because they had a year off? I'd think the former would outweight the latter, but maybe both are irrelevant.

I don't see any of these infractions preventing them from being drafted. Once upon a time, maybe you could say "maybe" as a Pats fan, but after Brandon was drafted in Rd 1, Moss was traded for, etc. it seems like the theory is "we'll give you a chance but when you get here, you will stay out of trouble."

On the other hand, if you are a year away from making millions, why accept a few thousand bucks from an agent. huge risk.

I would love this to happen....I also like the fact that BB gets his own opinion of the players and their character.....Just like the Meriweather situation where people were saying he was a top 10-15 talent but with his problems that ensued while at the U most teams stayed away.....BB went down, met him and liked what he heard/saw and drafted him late in the first round.....This could be another situation with Quinn....Although if we could get Quinn with the Pats 1st then I would go AJ green with Oak's 1st to get us that stud receiver....

If we can get Quinn with the Pat's first round pick(hopefully somewhere between 25-32) you have to do it. If his indiscretion is going to a party that an agent hosted and thats it, I think you can live with it. BB has been starting to take those players more recently. Hernandez and merriweather both had of field issues that dropped them and allowed BB to get them.

I wonder if Marvin Austin is going to enter into a supplemental draft. He was graded by a lot of draft analysts as having 1st round talent and he seems like the typical DT/DE hybrid that the Pats target for the DE in our base 3-4. ( @ 6-3 he might be a bit short). With his off the field issues hecmight now grade somewhere around 2nd round. So I would definitely like for the Pats to grab him if he enters the supplemental draft, around round 3 maybe???

I wonder if Marvin Austin is going to enter into a supplemental draft. He was graded by a lot of draft analysts as having 1st round talent and he seems like the typical DT/DE hybrid that the Pats target for the DE in our base 3-4. ( @ 6-3 he might be a bit short). With his off the field issues hecmight now grade somewhere around 2nd round. So I would definitely like for the Pats to grab him if he enters the supplemental draft, around round 3 maybe???

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Very unlikely, because the supplemental draft is only for players who were eligible to return when the original draft deadline was, but suddenly find themselves ineligible after the deadline.

Okay. Here's a dumb question. If these guys have been permanently banned from NCAA competition and they're long enough out of high school, doesn't that effectively make them street free agents? Do they really have to wait till the next draft to get hired by an NFL team?